1. What are references?
2. Preparing the references
3. Organizing the references
4. Integrating the references

5. Citing the references
6. Examples of citations
7. Making a reference List
8. Finishing the paper
9. Examples of sources

1. What are references?

When you write an academic paper, you will need to use references to support your ideas. References are words or ideas that come from somewhere else. References make your ideas stronger!

These references can come from many kinds of sources-- books, journals, DVDs, websites, newspapers, and so on. In this tutorial, you will find out how to use these references properly.

It is very important to understand that when you use another person's words or ideas, you must show where these words or ideas come from. If you do not show this, it is the same thing as stealing! This is called plagiarism-- and it is against the law. In most Amercian universities, if students or teachers do this, they can be kicked out of school! So remember, if you use someone else's idea, you must give that person credit for the idea.

There are two kinds of references: direct and indirect.

DIRECT
If you use someone else's words, it is called a quotation. This is not used very much in academic papers. (I explain about quotations later on.)

INDIRECT
If you use someone else's ideas (but your own words), it is called a citation.
This is what you will do in your senior paper.

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